As defined in EA 3/13 M: 2016 – G 9.2.1.3:
“Once the scope is defined, the OH&SMS shall include activities, products and services within the organization’s control or influence that can impact the organization’s OH&SMS performance”.
Question: Considering that all the activities, products and services within the organization’s control or influence can impact the organization’s OH&SMS performance, is it mandatory to include into the scope of the certificate all the activities, products and services of the organization?
In other words, can an organization decide to certify only a part of its activities, excluding some activities, products and services?
Example: An organization produce cars and trains. The organization applies the OH&SMS only in the cars production. Is it acceptable, or the company has to apply for the certification of the OH&SMS of the full organization? In this case, it could be acceptable that the organization establishes a plan in order to certify all production activities, products and services.
March 2017
Clause G 9.2.1.3 of EA-3/13 relates to audit scope not scope of certification. EA-3/13 does not make any reference to whether or not all activities, products and services shall be included in the scope of certification. The core requirement is Clause 8.3.4 (g) of ISO/IEC 17021-1 which states that that the certified client ‘does not imply that the certification applies to activities and sites that are outside the scope of certification’. The existence of this requirement accepts that it is possible that not all activities, products and services are covered by the scope of certification. EA-3/13 provides no additional guidance to clause 8.3.4 of ISO/IEC 17021, therefore, it is acceptable that some activities, products and services could be excluded from the scope of certification
However the OH&SMS should reflect the core activities of the organisation i.e. a manufacturing company should have the manufacturing activity as part of the OH&SMS, not just for example the office activities.
The CB should report on the rationale/justification for not including all activities.